Philippines (MNN) — Mark was
seven years old when he first came to the Faith, Hope and Love Kids Ranch
(FHL). He still remembers the feeling of
laying his head on a pillow for the very first time. It was a lot softer than the pieces of
cardboard and drainage pipes where he usually slept.
Mark came to the ranch because he
had been rescued from living on the streets. To feed himself, he learned the art of pickpocketing. He preferred covert crime to the humiliation
and vulnerability of begging, selling drugs, or selling trinkets. Sometimes he stayed in a park where dozens of
children gathered to sleep in drainage pipes or to dull their hunger by sniffing
cement glue.
In the Philippines, about 2
million children live on the streets.
Constantly on the move, they always face threats of rape, abuse, and
murder. The Lamar family established the
Faith, Hope & Love Kid's Ranch Inc. in 2004 to give abandoned, abused,
neglected, and orphaned children a second chance at life.
40 children now live at the
home. Last year, Faith Comes by Hearing
sent Proclaimers — audio recordings of the Bible in their language — to FHL. Now the children listen to the Proclaimer
every day during naptime and at night. If
the caretaker forgets to turn it on, the kids yell, "Turn on the Proclaimer! Turn on the Proclaimer!"
FCBH initiated programs for the
Tagalog language in 2006. Since then, it
has distributed 5,970 audio Bibles.
Pray that God's Word will continue to bring healing to the lives of these kids and help them grow into strong Christians.
